Algeria: NLF MPs storm parliament speaker's office

By Hassan Jebrel

ALGIERS (AA) – Algerian members of parliament belonging to the party of ousted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika stormed the office of the parliament speaker Wednesday, calling on him to resign.

"We are here because of the corruption that the [first chamber of] parliament is engaging in...You must leave," one of the deputies told Mouad Bouchareb, a leading member of Bouteflika’s National Liberation Front (NLF), while preventing him from holding a meeting with MPs, Algeria’s private Echorouk television channel reported.

Commenting on the incident, the head of the parliamentary bloc of the NLF, Khaled Bouriah, said in a press statement that the party “wants to remove Bouchareb from office in response to the demands of the Algerian people".

He added that Bouchareb had told them that he would only step down from his post through an “upper order”.

On Tuesday, the NLF announced that it was freezing its activities in parliament until Bouchareb submits his resignation.

In late April, when Mohamed Djemai was elected secretary-general of the FLN, he announced his support for the demands of the popular movement, including the departure of Bouteflika regime figures.

The 82-year-old Bouteflika, who had ruled Algeria since 1999, announced his resignation early last month following weeks of popular protests against his rule.